


Obsession

by lorcris



Category: Without a Trace
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-11
Updated: 2015-01-11
Packaged: 2018-03-07 03:07:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 18,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3158900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lorcris/pseuds/lorcris
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A four year-old-girl is missing. Jack Malone’s squad will try to find her in a fight against the clock in a case that will bring old memories to Danny Taylor.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**November, 25. Miami. 03.45 am**

“Brunette girl, four years old, missing. I’ll take care of you, I’ll take care of you all. One plate, two plates, three plates, four plates… I’ll take care of you all… brunette girl, four years old, missing… Lucy… I’ll take care of you, one girl, two dolls, three dolls… four… I missed one, I missed one… brunette girl, four years old, missing… I missed one… I need one… I need one… call Pete… I need one… call Pete… are you okay, honey? Don’t you like fish?... I’ll take care of you… I’ll take care of you all… brunette girl, four years old, missing. Shhh… this is our secret, this is our hiding place… we won’t tell mum or dad… Lucy… Lucy… damn dolls… call Pete, I need one, I need Lucy… brunette girl, four years old, missing”

Kyle Callahan observed carefully the plates and cutlery. Everything was like he wanted, it was perfect… almost perfect. He turned back and checked that Lucy wasn’t there yet as her three dolls waited patiently for the arrival of the girl. One week ago, things were different but Lucy had got a cold and Kyle didn’t know how to take care of her… it wasn’t on his plan, it shouldn’t have happened, but it happened, it had happened before and it finished the same way… always. The garden of the house already hid eleven little ‘Lucys’. Kyle frowned trying to remember what had happened with Lucy, as he felt his breath turn labored… something was wrong. “Where’s Lucy?!” – he panicked, screaming desperately as he throw hard the plates on the floor. “Don’t look at me like that!. Speak! What did you do to Lucy?”

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**November, 25. New York. 05.30 am**

Pete Callahan was deeply asleep when the sound of his cell interrupted his rest in a start. Not being completely aware of his surroundings he wasn’t sure if what was ringing was the alarm clock or anything else. He stretched out his arm to the table and picked up the cell.

“Hello?” – he said with a hoarse voice as he half closed his eyes trying to read the digital numbers of the time.

“Pete? It’s Kyle. I need your help, I… I can’t find Lucy…” – The anxious voice of Kyle Callahan said.

Pete closed his eyes. In that hotel room at that time of the night, the last call he expected to receive was his brother. Before Kyle started to explain, Pete already knew what kind of help his brother needed.

“Kyle…” – he started, not knowing how to help him.

“Pete, please, you have to help me… I’m… I’m making the dinner, do you know?...”

“Kyle, it’s five-thirty in the morning. Please, get out of there and calm down, alright? I’m not… I’m not at home, I’m in New York and I won’t come back until tonight if I don’t have to stay here” – Pete said.

“I tried hard, Pete” – Kyle said, sobbing. “I got out, I took the medication… I’m… I’m doing well; I’m a good boy… I don’t know what happened; I don’t know why Lucy isn’t here”

Pete sat down on the bed, trying to clear his mind. It was the fourth time Kyle asked this favor. For the last years, he barely left home, his health was weaker and his mental state didn’t get much better with the run of years… On the contrary, his obsession was growing, right now becoming something dangerous. Pete pictured his brother in that cold, big and lonely house he wasn’t allowed to enter in when he had visited him, take his medicines or, like Kyle used to say, when Lucy was missing. Three times he had done it and it was just because Pete Callahan had been able to restart his life, he had his own family, two little children and a good work. He didn’t want to go back to prison; five years were enough for him. On the one hand, he wasn’t sure about his brother’s threat, he looked too weak to do it, but when Kyle threatened him, he looked like the most capable person in the world. On the other hand, Kyle was his responsibility, he was his little brother and what happened to him was, at least in part any way, his fault.

“Hey kiddo, calm down, okay? Kyle, I’m here, with you, right? You have to calm down… where are you?”

“What kind of question is that?” – Kyle yelled. “Are you thinking that I abandoned Lucy? I didn’t put a damn foot out of here”.

“Turn on the lights, Kyle”

“It’s done… all the lights in this damn house are on… I’ve looked for Lucy in the whole house and she isn’t here… she isn’t here, Pete. And no… before you ask, she isn’t in the basement, either… she would have to be there, shouldn’t she?. She should be there… I need Lucy, I’m… I’m making the dinner… there are four plates… as she likes. I need Lucy… bring Lucy here” – Kyle said.

“Kyle…” – Pete started nervously. He knew that Kyle was sick, surely this was the worst time and he couldn’t do anything. Each question he asked, Kyle replied with the unreality of his life and not coherently.

But Kyle didn’t give any option. His fear, his sobbing and his contradictions turned to the cold voice and Pete knew the second part started.

“Bring Lucy here” – Kyle’s voice sounded quiet and firm. “You know what I’ll do if you don’t, bring me Lucy, I don’t care about the time, you bring her here or you know what I’ll do tomorrow…”

Pete cursed silently. “Okay, Kyle. I’ll do my best” – it was the only thing he could say.

“Good, I’ll wait at home” – Kyle said before ending the call.

Pete remained sat down on the bed of the hotel room, with his cell in his trembling hand, the fear settled in him. He hated this situation, he hated his brother when he made him to do these things. Why he didn’t let him alone? Why he couldn’t get over his past? Hadn’t he served his sentence? Hadn’t he paid enough for his mistakes? The image of his wife and two little children under the sun of Miami beaches, brought tears to his eyes… he couldn’t fail them, he just couldn’t. But whatever he did, helping or not helping his brother, it meant the possibility of losing what he loved the most.

Unable to stay in that room another minute, Pete Callahan got up the bed, got dressed and left trying to clear his mind. When, 45 minutes later he entered a café and sat down in front of a hot coffee cup, he still kept the memory of better times, before the tragedy shattered his family.

_ Miami, October 1980 _

_The three boys approached the back of the house._

_It wasn’t the usual routine. Every day, Pete and Kyle were picked up at school by one of his father’s employees and they were driven at home, but today was one of those days that both brothers walked back from school. Pete was ten years old and liked it this way, but his little brother, Kyle, still enjoyed the ride in his father’s big sedan. Their home wasn’t far from school but they had to cross Seventh St. and their parents didn’t like that place. Actually, it wasn’t a dangerous situation since most of the school children had to cross that street and the zone was watched by police. Seventh St. marked the limits where some homes up, prostitutes, drug addicts and thieves coexisted with the poorest families of the city._

_On their way at home, a couple of boys from that dangerous street, joined them._

_“Hi” – one of them said with a smile. Pete didn’t know how old he was, he looked like Kyle, but infinitely smarter than his brother. The kids from that zone were used to being alone without the protection of the family. “You going home?” – the boy asked._

_“Yes” – Kyle said before Pete could stop him._

_“Kyle, shut up. You know what mum says” – he reproached him._

_“What does mum say, Kyle?” – the other boy, as old as Pete, said teasingly._

_“My mum doesn’t like us to hang  around with you”- Pete said._

_“We can trade baseball cards.  Llook, I’ve got a few” –the little kid said, fishing in his pocket. He showed them anxiously to Pete._

_“Have you got just those?” – Pete asked scornfully. However, noticing the hurt look on the kid, he stopped and took the pictures. Pete liked that boy, they had become friends without noticing it. He liked the fascination the little boy had for his cards and his remote-controlled cars and one time, he and Kyle, when they were bored, had gone to Seventh St. to play with him. Pete felt important and liked the feeling of being the centre of attention. At home, his parents were always busy with other things… grown up things father explained to him. “I like this one and I haven’t got it, if you want I can show you my collection and trade it for another one you like” – he said._

_The kid looked unsure. “I don’t know… my father doesn’t like me to spend time with you, either” – he said looking down._

_“Come on, it’ll be just a moment, we’ll enter through the kitchen, nobody will know”- Pete encouraged him. The idea of taking his friend home, was very exciting._

_“Ok… what are you doing, Brian?” – the boy asked to his friend._

_“I’m leaving, I have to go to my cousin’s home” – Brian said- “Bye”. The boy left them running, leaving them alone._

_Now, feeling the quick beating of their hearts, the three of them entered the house trying to keep unnoticed, through the kitchen door. They knew that if they were caught, the punishment would be serious. One of the maids was doing something in the kitchen, her back to them, as Lucy played with a doll sitting down at the table. Pete and Kyle knew that his father was still at work, and the TV was on, so their mum should be there. Still unnoticed, they reached Pete’s room. He had to pull his friend to there because, as he had thought, the boy stayed quiet in one place looking around, amazed by the size of the place. Probably, his home wasn’t bigger than the space of the living room. The fact that every brother had their own room was something unthinkable for him, since he shared a tiny room with his older brother. Pete liked that admiring feeling he got from his little friend._

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

**November, 25. New York, 02.00 pm**

**Redstone School**

Special agent Jack Malone of the FBI, got out of the car and straightened his coat, as his coworker Samantha Spade did the same on the other side of the car. She opened her big umbrella to protect herself from the heavy rain and they headed for the inside of the building. Outside the school, some cars were still there, as is usual at the end of the school day, only the people were missing. Jack noticed the muddy ground covered with tire tracks and footsteps everywhere because of the rain.  It was like everybody had run away leaving their cars abandoned. One four-year-old girl was missing and all the squad from Missing Persons Unit set off. The sooner they started the sooner they’d find the little girl, the longer they took to find her, the less chance of finding her alive. The six agents knew that too well, the experience of years working in that Unit had taught them that, and they had learned to keep control over their own feelings as they worked as well, even though sometimes it wasn’t easy.

Special agent Martin Fitzgerald had stayed in the FBI offices in Manhattan. From there he could look for any information requested by any of his coworkers and send it to them quickly. At the moment, the tension had caught him, it wasn’t a good day for a girl to be missing, it never was, but today the weather was pretty unpleasant. If the girl was lost and didn’t find a place to stay, she could suffer from hypothermia and… From there, he didn’t have information enough to have any clue and he tried to block any feeling. With a hot coffee cup, Martin sat down in front of his computer and entered the data base of pedophile records. It was a routine procedure, just as calling to hospitals and morgues if there was need to in the case. Redstone School was set in a residential zone in Brooklyn but Martin couldn’t find any suspect close to it. He wrote the name of a man who lived 20 kms from the School as the closest to the zone. He had got out of prison, twelve years ago after serving time for the rape of an 11 years old girl. The event had been in Oklahoma, but as normal, those kinds of people changed residence every time they were identified by the neighborhood. So Phil White had been living in New York for five years.

Another possibility to bear in mind was the chance of a kidnapping. Redstone School was one of the most famous schools in the area, what it said about the economic capacity of Barrett family, whose daughter, Lorraine Barrett, was missing at the time she left school.

When Jack and Sam entered the school, they found a few parents and children, some of them with worried expressions, the other, the younger kids playing, the older children looking with curiosity at the work of the police. Jack guessed they were friends and acquaintances of the little girl. Sam pointed to the place where their coworker, Vivian Johnson talked to a woman. Judging by her attitude, Sam deduced she could be the School’s Principal.

Special agent Elena Delgado talked at that moment with the father of a student as special agent Danny Taylor took notes and talked to the one that Jack identified as Lorraine Barrett’s mother. Her anguished face was an accurate reflection of the hell she was living. There weren’t tears on her face, there never were in these cases, the emotional shock was so hard that the people under it, felt trapped in their own emotions, the uncertainty and what was happening around them and they were unable to break free of them. Probably, Danny would have had problems getting some attention from Laura Barrett so that she could explain to him what had happened.

Elena approached him, with her notebook. “Jack, the only interesting I’ve got is the statement of a mother that says that she saw a man talking to the girl. Her name is Marcia Bradford. The school was full of people at that time and very little people noticed what had happened. When Mrs. Barrett realized the disappearance of her daughter most of the parents had already left, but we could talk to the ones staying here, most of them parents of the girl’s classmates that helped to look for her from the first moment” – Elena pointed a woman about 35 years old, sitting down and hugging her little  6 year-year-old son. “She’s Marcia Bradford”. – she said.

“Will she be able to give a description to make a picture?” – Jack asked.

“She saw him briefly… 1.85 m., dark and very short hair, an old brown leather jacket, she doesn’t remember anything special. I’ve asked her if she could give a description to make a picture and she thinks it’s possible” – Elena said, reading the notes she had taken.

“Good, go with her to the office and get a technician to make that picture. It would be great if you show her the pedophile’s pictures that match with the description. They are the first suspects in these cases” – Jack ordered.

“Okay, I’ve called Martin with the first information to look for  in the data base” – Elena headed for Mrs. Bradford and left with her to her car. In her mind, for all this time, Elena had a picture her own daughter, Sophie. When they had arrived at the school, she voluntarily asked to do the interviews with the other parents. She couldn’t deal with the mother of the missing girl. She was trained to do it, but at this moment she wasn’t ready to confront a situation like that. It was recently that she had suffered through the kidnapping of Sophie and she knew so well what that mother was living.

“Sam, those people know Lorraine, the kids know her, maybe they saw something…” – Jack suggested to his coworker.

“Well, let’s see what those kids have to say” – Sam said, approaching a group of kids with a friendly smile. She didn’t feel like smiling, when any person was missing, any agent was in a constant state of tension, but she had to get their trust, she had to play with them. She glanced at her coworker, Danny Taylor, who continued talking with the missing girl’s mother. He was perfect working with kids, his natural instinct toward them was something that Sam always admired, but her coworker was completely focused on what that woman told him.

Jack approached his coworker, Vivian Johnson.

“Well, I’ll go for it, right now, but as I tell you, it doesn’t take in the whole outside” – the woman was explaining to her.

Then she went away from Vivian and headed for what Jack could identify as the Principal’s office.

“What’ve we got, Vivian?” – he asked.

“Lorraine Barrett, her mother came to pick up her, as usual. The principal told me that they have a camera to record the hall and part of outside. She had to go get it, we’ll play it to see if we have any luck. The mother  told us that after picking her up, the girl stayed in the car as she talked to another woman. When she turned back to get into the car, the girl had gone”

“From the car?”

“Yes, from the car. The police are combing the zone. The girl is only four years old, if she left the car by own and walked away, she can’t be so far. But you know, kids can look for any hiding place. Danny is taking a statement from the mother and trying to calm down her, if he can…”

Jack looked toward his coworker, still talking to Mrs. Barrett. Danny had a serious face as tried to get the best information from Mrs. Barrett.

Jack approached him. Danny left Mrs. Barrett for a moment, to inform his boss of his progress.

“Mrs. Barrett gave me this picture of her daughter” – Danny said, showing Jack the photo of the little girl. “The mother can’t explain what happened, the girl is very quiet, she never thought of doing this kind of thing, but… they are children. She had her back to her and didn’t notice what happened. The woman she was talking to didn’t notice either. Someone told us he had seen the girl alone he wasn’t sure it was her and the police are still looking for her. It’s… it’s strange. I… I don’t think the girl has left on her own, much less with this weather”.

“No” – Jack said.

Both agents exchanged a worried look. If the girl had run away it would be easier to find her. If someone had taken her, things could turn serious. Jack noticed the anxiety on his young agent, the cases involving kids affected him more than anyone else.

At that moment, a man getting out of a car quickly, caught their attention. He headed towards them, actually towards Mrs. Barrett. Jack and Danny knew at that moment who he was.

“Honey, what’s happening?” – he asked  Mrs. Barrett.

“I don’t know”- she sobbed – “It’s my fault, Jeff… I was talking to Mary and…”

“Mr. Barrett?” – Jack said approaching him.

He turned back confused. “Jack Malone, FBI, he’s agent Taylor. I would like to ask you some questions”

“Questions? What questions? Why is it that you’re not looking for my daughter?”

“Police are combing the zone, Mr. Barrett” – Danny said.

“Mr. Barrett, can you think of someone who wanted to take the girl, someone from your surroundings, someone who wanted to harm you or your wife?” – Jack asked.

“What! What are you saying? For God sake, no! Do you think that someone has taken my little girl?” – he asked completely scared.

The anguished face of the man, made Jack lose control for a moment. It was easy put on his shoes. During some of his worst nightmares, he pictured his own daughters being kidnapped. Mr. Barrett’s daughter looked like one of his own. Her long and wavy dark hair and  brilliant dark eyes looking directly to the camera, stood out with the white skin of her smiling face.

“The police has found nothing yet. We have to work all the chances, the sooner we start, the sooner we’ll know what happened here” – Jack explained in a firm but supporting tone.

“Your wife told us that the girl was in the car as she was talking to a friend on the other side of the car. If your daughter didn’t leave by her own, someone had to take her, some known person so the girl trusted him or her easily and your wife didn’t notice…” – Danny said.

“No… I don’t know who would want to do this. We don’t have…” – he started.

Jack noticed that Mr. Barrett wouldn’t tell them any useful information so he had to take the chance even if they were wrong. “Maybe someone could kidnap the girl. I’m going to send an agent and call trace kit to your home. It would be important you both stay there, if anyone calls asking for a ransom” – Jack said.

“Hey, look, I don’t think…” – Mr. Barrett started.

“We’re doing it to be on the safe side, Mr. Barrett. We’re checking all the possible situations, the police are combing the zone; if the girl left alone and ran away and we’re working on other  possibilities… help us to do our work and everything will be easier” – Jack said firmly.

“Alright” – Barrett said frowning. He approached his wife and put his arm around her. “Honey, everything is going to be okay, right? They are looking for her, you’ll see our little girl with us soon”.

Both stared each other and then melted in an anguished hug.

Danny felt a lump in his throat. He looked down at the photo of the girl that looked back at him with those brilliant and dark eyes.

“Danny… Danny!”

Danny blinked, his mind had travelled far away for a while, looking for that girl in another time, another place.

“Join Martin, he was working the list of pedophiles around and he has found one that coincides with Marcia Bradford’s description 20 kms from here…” –Jack said.

Sam approached them. The kids couldn’t give anything useful for the investigation. “Most of them tried to keep away from the rain and didn’t pay attention to anything else” – she said.

“Okay, Sam, go with Mr. and Mrs. Barrett to their home. Maybe there, once they calm down, they can tell you something that help us. You know, become their confidant. I’ll send a team to tap the phones in case this was a kidnapping and someone calls for a ransom”

While Sam went with Mr. and Mrs. Barrett, Vivian drove back to the office with Jack. The school’s principal left them the videotape with the recording of the parking lot.

“I’ve seen the recording partially and the principal was right, the camera didn’t take in all of the parking lot, but we’ll check it again, maybe at some moment we can see something that we missed now.” – she told Jack.

“Yes” – he said staring at the road.

Vivian noticed the tension on her boss and knew what he was thinking. “Have you talked to your daughter, lately?”

“I’ve talked to Kate… Hannah is still avoiding me. Kate has been able to adapt to the circumstances, however. She’s a very smart kid… and pretty mature”.

“She’s so sweet” – Vivian said, remembering the Jack’s little daughter’s expression.

“Yes, she is… and I hope she stays that way” – he said.

It was the worry of every parent. Jack and Vivian figured out the hell that Barretts were living right now.


	2. Chapter 2

Danny arrived at FBI office, with that girl in mind. After making a cup of coffee in the break room, he headed for the bullpen. His head was pounding hard, he had to find that girl. He took the photo of the girl and put it on the whiteboard writing the name and the case number beside it. Then he removed his wet coat and sitting down, he leaned his elbows on the table, resting his chin on his hands, looking at the picture, thoughtful.

Martin entered the bullpen and noticed his coworker’s attitude. “Hey”- he greeted.

“Hey” – Danny trailed off.

“I’ve been checking the data base looking for pedophiles in that area. The description Mrs. Bradford gave, just fits with one of them. But, I’m going to check their alibi. Do you want to come with me?” – Martin explained.

He knew Danny well enough to realize this case was affecting him in a special way. Danny wouldn’t say anything, of course, but Martin thought that a little bit of field work would be good for him.

Danny didn’t move, didn’t look at him, his eyes staring at that pic.

“Listen, take it easy, okay?” – Martin said, tapping his shoulder.

“Sure” – he muttered, standing up.

Martin drove through New York’s streets, with the addresses of five pedophiles. They had permission to interview them any moment in case it was justified. The silence in the car started to get nerve-wracking and, as they waited for the traffic light turn to green, he tried to start a conversation.

“Has the videotape been checked?” – he asked.

“Yes, but the car isn’t in focus… we didn’t see anything… just kids and parents picking them up. No trace of the girl, her mum, the car… nothing…” – Danny said in bad mood. “Vivian is going to revise it with the technicians again to see if we get something”.

“Oh, well, maybe the woman that saw that man talking to the girl will give enough information to the tech to make a good picture of him”.

“I don’t know if she saw him so well and he could be any other father and not be involved in” – Danny said.

“Hey, what’s the matter with you, Danny? We’re on our way, at the beginning everything is confused…”

“I know” – Danny trailed off, turning to the window. The day was dark and cold, it would be nightfall soon.

“Danny…”

“Let it go, okay. It’s nothing” – he said still looking at the street.

Martin was sure that something was bothering  his coworker, the fact he avoided his eyes was pretty evident. But Martin couldn’t do anything so he patiently waited for the green light.

In front of their car, some kids crossed the street, with their bags from school. One of them stumbled and nearly fell and the baseball cards he was showing to his friends fell out of his hands. In a bad mood, the kid picked them up, dirty and wet, from the ground. His friends laughed and he started to walk quickly, leaving them behind, visibly affected.

“Oh, bad luck boy”- Martin said smiling. “I hope the cards weren’t too valuable. I still keep a great part of my baseball cards, you know?”

Danny didn’t listen to the comment, absorbed in that kid picking up his wet cards.

_Flashback_

_“Honey, why are coming in like that?”- his mum said, removing quickly the completely wet coat. The little seven-year-old boy, shivered with cold, as he tried uselessly to protect something in his wet hands._

_“What are you holding there?”- she asked. “Oh, gosh, they all are wet”- she went on when the little boy opened his hands. His little collection of cards was completely ruined._

_The little boy made a great effort to not cry, they were the only cards he had, his mum had bought them for him, without his dad’s knowledge, and he knew that he never would have any more. Some tears reached his eyes and the boy burst into tears when he felt the comfortable hand of his mum caressing his wet hair and pulling him close to her._

_His brother looked at them from the dining table, pencil in hand, trying to finish his homework. He grimaced at the scene and intuitively looked at the big clock on the wall. “You better change clothes and hide the cards” – he said._

_The little boy pulled away from his mum, who removed his wet clothes and kept them in the cleaning basket, removing the clothes inside to hide the wet clothes in the bottom of the basket. She sighed thinking about his older son’s reaction… fear, the same fear she felt as she hid things… if she could find a job, if she could find the courage to leave. She hadn’t any place to go, any place to be safe with her sons, and they were suffering for her failure. So, the only thing she could do was try to not disturb her husband, hiding things, lying, teaching their sons to lie… a sad thing. She leaned her arms on the basket as she tried to keep her tears back as she heard her son’s words ._

_The little boy went to the little room that he shared with his older brother, still sobbing, looking at his baseball cards, inconsolably. His brother got up and looked at his little brother as he dressed in dry clothes. He had left the baseball cards beside the can where he used to keep them, not knowing what to do with them._

_“Wait, I have an idea” – the older said. “Maybe your cards aren’t so lost. Let me see them”._

_“They are very wet” – the little boy said, looking at his brother with sad eyes._

_“Look, I’ll keep them  inside of one of my school books. They will get dry and won’t screw up”_

_“You think?” – the boy said, still skeptical but hopeful._

_“You don’t have anything to lose, don’t you think?”- the older brother said, picking a book and opening in the middle. “Come on, put them inside”._

_They were putting the cards inside the book when they heard the main door opening. Both exchange a scared look, as the older brother noticed the still wet hair of his little brother. “You took a shower, is that clear?”- he was the older brother, he was 15 and he could protect him._

_The little boy nodded terrified, as he listened to  the yelling of his father._

_End of flashback_

“Danny?”- Martin looked at those kids not knowing what special was in that situation that Danny looked so lost in.

“What? Baseball?” – Danny blinked trying to look casual.

“Yeah, I got a good collection. For two years, I guess we spent all the weekly allowance just buying cards. We spent hours trading players”- Martin replied, still surprised by the lost gesture of his coworker.

Danny smirked. “I don’t picture you being one to fiddle with baseball cards”.

“No, we just exchanged the repeated cards. There was a guy… he didn’t even go to our school, he went for a while around and when he got our trust, he promised to take the best cards, just what we wanted. He  got a great bunch of baseball cards”

“Don’t tell, he didn’t appear around anymore” – Danny laughed.

“No” – Martin grimaced – “It took me a lot of time to get my collection again. Maybe it’s the reason I still have them. Do you keep any?”

“No” – Danny replied shortly. “I wish that woman would identify the guy that took the girl”- he said looking through the window.

“Yeah”- Martin sighed.

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All the pedophiles interviewed by Martin and Danny had a solid alibi for the time that Lorraine Barrett was missing.

Phil White was inside of a sewer fixing something when his boss called for him. He came outside in bad mood to find the two federal agents. His boss glanced at him suspiciously and White felt upset. He had recognized the feds before they showed him their ID. When they would stop  bothering him?

“Listen” – he said before Danny or Martin said a word. “I’ve served my sentence, I’ve take all the treatment that’s been suggested, I haven’t been in trouble for six years, I have a job and a life that I don’t want to lose. What the hell are you doing here?”

Danny raised an eyebrow as he showed him his ID. “Agents Taylor and Fitzgerald, where you were around 13…”

“I’ve spent all the damn day trying to fix this damn broken pipe. You can ask. Whatever you’re doing, I’m not interested and I don’t want to know. So… bye”

“We’ll check” – Martin said.

“What’s up? You don’t believe me? I match the bad guy’s profile?” – White fired.

“Listen, we’re just doing our work, the same as you’re doing yours, it’s not your fault if you match with a specific profile” – Martin replied.

Danny stared at that man frowning. His words resounded in his head as though they were trying to tell him something but he didn’t know what.

“Hey, let’s get out of here” – Martin said.

“Yes… yeah, sure” – he said, following his coworker to talk with White’s boss who confirmed what he had told them.

“We’ve wasted our time” Danny spat as soon as they finished their interviews.

“We had to check them, Danny”- Martin said.

“They didn’t match with the description!” – Danny almost yelled in desperation.

“But it could be that the man the woman saw it wasn’t the kidnapper and we could find something wrong in one of these guys” – Martin said. “Danny, what’s going on? Why are you so skeptical? We’ve done this a hundred times!”

“Okay, it’s alright. Well, once we’ve checked this, what’s next?” – he said.

Martin shook his head and sighed. Taking his cell, he called Jack.

It was five in the afternoon when Martin and Danny went back to the office. The police kept the search going with trained dogs, the search of the girl’s traces was lost near the school. The rain was causing big problems for the search and the parents were desperate.

At FBI offices, Marcia Bradford had given them a very vague description, she had seen that man just some seconds, she didn’t recognize him as one of the parents that usually went to the school, but she didn’t know all of them. The picture was now on the suspects whiteboard, a vague description of the person responsible of Lorraine Barrett’s disappearance.

Right now, Marcia Bradford was looking the photographs of delinquents related to kidnapping and pedophilia, being helped by Elena. Sam continued at Mr. and Mrs. Barrett’s home where some technicians had gone with the necessary mechanism to trace a possible call for ransom and Jack was in his office, in permanent contact with the police. Meanwhile, Vivian had checked the videotapes but they had found nothing.

Martin read the notes they had taken that afternoon when the TV aired a photo of Lorraine Barrett explaining what had happened. The photo on TV could help or not, someone could have seen her and call, but if there was a kidnapper, maybe he could become nervous and take a wrong step… or kill her. Martin frowned, as he looked outside the building. If the girl had just run away and gotten lost, the cold and dark would terrify her. Then he noticed the figure on the balcony. In the cold of the evening he couldn’t believe that anyone could be there.

Danny went back to the office and left the pedophiles’ files on the desk. One glance at little Lorraine’s picture made him  shiver. Something familiar in her made him feel specially uncomfortable with that case. He noticed Elena with Marcia Bradford looking for a suspect in the files. He looked at the picture the technicians had done following the description Marcia Bradford had given… it could be any one… or it could be no one. The matter of the baseball cards had brought to his mind old memories from a childhood he didn’t want to remember. He need a fresh breathe and clarify his mind, so, he tightened his coat and went to the outside of the office, to the balcony.

The cold air of New York hit hard on his face, drying at a second the tears that had start to roll down. The memory of his mum when they tried to hide his pranks and the way she had comforted him noticing the wet cards, the only cards he had had in his whole life, brought waves of different emotions, his mum’s love, his hate towards his dad, other memories. Some times, good memories were worse than bad, and usually the first ones came hand-in-hand with the second ones….

Leaning on the rail, he stared at the lights of the cars reflected on the wet ground, and how their wake was deleted by the cars crossing them, leaving a new wake of light that was deleted by other car, and another, and another.  Completely lost in that vision, trying to stop his mind, he didn’t feel the presence of his coworker who stood there with a cup of hot coffee.

“Danny…” – Martin got his attention.

He didn’t see him, he just looked down trying to keep interested in the landscape of New York streets, in a cold day, if that was possible. He didn’t want Martin to notice that he was crying, he had been crying.

“I’ve thought that maybe you would like some hot coffee”- Martin said.

“Thanks”- Danny said turning to him with a light smile.

Martin noticed the gesture and he knew that Danny had been crying but he didn’t say anything. This case was affecting him more than usual but Martin didn’t know how to ask him… maybe when it was finished.

Both stayed some minutes there, until the uncomfortable silence was cut off by Danny.

“I’m thinking… a four years old girl doesn’t get out of a car without a reason. I understand for an older kid, but in this case… it had to be someone else, or someone who got that attention from her”- he said.

“What do you mean?”

“It’s strange that nobody saw it, I mean, if it was an unknown person, he or she should take his or her time to convince her. How is that nobody saw it?”

“I don’t know, Danny, at that time there was a lot of kids, parents, everybody is just looking for theirs… it’s the pick-up time”.

“There was a witness that told us he had seen the girl alone…” – Danny said talking for himself. “Maybe she saw something interesting enough for a girl and got out of the car… and following whatever it was that interested her, she didn’t realize where she went and lost the way back”.

“The police have combed the area, Danny. They didn’t find anything…”

“Do you know what? One time something similar happened… we have to go back to that school, Martin”- Danny said, hitting the rail in determination and turned to enter the bullpen. Martin stayed for a second cursing silently, before following his coworker that was getting his coat.

“Are you coming  or what?”- Danny said expectant.

“Where are you going guys?”- Vivian asked.

“Danny thinks that maybe the girl left the car attracted by something…”- Martin said.

“Danny, the police have looked at every inch of that school and the surroundings, they took the dogs….”

“It has been raining for the whole day, it’s possible that her track isn’t so easy to search… hey, we already wasted our time with the pedophiles, there isn’t any reason for not wasting it again looking at the area…” – Danny said.

“Of course Danny” – she said noticing the anxiety of her coworker. Vivian knew how these cases affected to her coworker, some more than others, and this one looked to be one of those special cases. “But look, the police are doing their work well. They are combing all the area from the beginning and they are in permanent contact with us. They know where to search, let them to do their work and let’s do ours”.

“And what do you suggest to do? We’ve interviewed the possible suspects, we have a witness with a partial description of a man talking to the girl, that we don’t even know if he left with her or not because nobody saw it. That woman is here all day looking for photos and she hasn’t recognized anybody. Mr. and Mrs. Barrett don’t have any enemies, not enough money for thinking seriously about a kidnap for ransom…”

“Well, the TV had aired a photo of Lorraine. Any moment, any one could call and…” – Martin started.

“I’m not working here to stay sitting down, waiting for someone calling me with a lead”- Danny said in bad mood. “I’m leaving”.

“Okay, right, I’ll go with you”- Martin said.

“Wait, I’ll go too”- Vivian said.

As Danny said, they couldn’t stay without doing something.


	3. Chapter 3

**November, 25. Brooklyn. Redstone’s School. 6.20 pm**

“Have you found out something?” – The school’s principal asked, nervously.

“We’re still working on it”- Viv replied.

“The police have been around all day, searching all around the school… with the dogs… but still they haven’t found Lorraine” – she said.

“Have they searched inside the school?”- Danny asked.

“Oh… yes… I, I think so…”- the principal looked unsure.

“Yes or you think?”- Danny asked again impatiently.

“We would have seen the girl getting into the school in the security videotape, Danny” – Vivian commented.

“Is there any access to the school without security cameras?” – he asked then.

“There is a private access for teachers. At that time it’s usually open but it’s only for teachers” – she replied.

“But, well, a four years old girl wouldn’t have known that”

“Someone would have noticed, it’s not usual to see kids around”

“Let’s check it”- Martin said then.

The principal guided them to the access door she had told them about. They looked around the area and finally got into the building.

“Let’s take different ways” – Vivian ordered.

The three agents started to look for Lorraine, calling her. The sound of her name was the only sound in the now empty building. Thirty minutes later Vivian and Martin met in the hall. There was no trace of the girl. But his coworker found it hard to believe, for some reason, and he continued the search for another half and hour, after having an argument with his coworkers.

“Danny, the girl is not here. We’d have found her if she was here, she’d listen to us” – Martin tried to make him listen to reason.

“Maybe she’s scared, Martin… she’s a little girl, maybe she thinks that she has done something wrong and she is hidden” – he said.

“Danny, the police went over the school, they used the dogs…”

“Maybe they lost the trace because of the rain”- he protested as continued going from here to there.

“Danny, inside the school it isn’t raining, let it go, please”- Martin said impatiently.

But Danny continued his search, removing tables and chairs, looking behind furniture, inside of closets, calling the girl insistently. Finally, Vivian stopped him. “Danny, we’re wasting our time, Lorraine Barrett isn’t here anymore”.

Danny turned around and faced her and his coworkers could see the anguished expression on his face for a second. Martin bit his lip, something was definitely wrong with Danny in this case.

“All right” – he muttered. “I’m… I’m sorry, you’re right”

“Don’t worry, Danny”- Martin said, resting a hand on his shoulder. “It’s never useless to check things twice”.

Then, Vivian’s cell started to vibrate.

She glanced at the ID. “Tell me, Jack”- she said.

“A friend of Barrets called them after watching the news on TV. He said that he saw the girl getting into a grey truck, he guessed it was a delivery truck, but he wasn’t sure about it. It caught his attention because it was a little far from the parking lot but he didn’t care because the girl looked nice. Elena is searching for what kind of firms use grey trucks in the area”

“Right, we’re at the school”- Vivian said- “did he tell you where the truck was parked, exactly?”

“He was leaving so it should be on his way to the road. It was a little  hidden by trees”- Jack explained.

Vivian, Martin and Danny were already walking outside the school searching according to Jack’s instructions. The truck wasn’t there, of course, but maybe they could find some sort of lead. Danny arrived first. Some broken branches and the tracks of a car on the ground told them that it was the place. “The tracks are getting washed away by the rain” – he said bending down.

Martin looked around and checked the branches. Vivian inspected the ground in search of any thing that could have been missed. Something brilliantly shining caught her attention. “Eh, guys, I guess I’ve found something” – she said picking up a little earring.

The three agents exchanged a worried look in silence. “Someone took her” – Danny muttered, shaking his head.

“Jack said that the witness told him the truck looked from a delivery firm. Elena is looking for it”- Martin said.

“It could be anyone, not even living in this area, the truck could be stolen, anyway”- Danny interrupted him.

Vivian squeezed his arm. She never had seen him so negative. “Hey Danny, we’ll find something” – she said softly.

He stared at her. “By now they could be very far from here”.

“If the truck was stolen, there’ll be a report, Danny. He will be nervous and will try to hide himself. He’ll make a mistake any time now” – she said.

“Sure” – he said. He looked around in desperation. “We are not doing anything staying here”, he continued before start walking towards his car. Vivian and Martin followed him. Both agents exchanged a worried look, understanding passing between them without a word.

“Take me to the parents’ home. I’ll show them the earring, we need to know if it’s hers” – Vivian said.

On their way back to the office, Martin stopped the car in front of Barrett home. Danny stared at the house as Vivian walked away the car.

“What’s going on, Danny?” – Martin asked.

“I don’t know, Martin… you see… you stop by here every day and you figure out that, inside those so beautiful houses, you can find nothing but a happy family, kids playing and lovely parents… nobody could imagine what this family is living right now” – Danny said.

“Danny, don’t be so naïve”- Martin said. He was surprised by Danny’s comment because he knew that actually Danny knew that things didn’t work out like that. Something else was behind his words. “I could tell you about bigger and more luxurious houses than these, and I can assure you that you won’t find anything like what you’re saying”- he said.

Martin had lived in one of those big houses for a long time, where you should have everything and maybe it was like that, but what he wanted the most, it looked that it couldn’t be found there. Material things, the coming and going of parties, keeping up appearances… engulfed what a kid needed the most, attention, affection… things out of place for a Fitzgerald.

“I know that Martin, there was a time where I was convinced of that, but I know it doesn’t work like that” – Danny said.

“Why is this case affecting you so much?” – Martin asked directly.

Danny shook his head. “I really don’t know… I’ve spent all the day thinking about something… I don’t know, that girl… she looks like someone I met a long time ago” – he recognized.

“Well, sometimes it happens. Try not to think about her, try to focus just on the leads and our work ahead, right?”- Martin told him. At least, Danny had recognized he was having a certain trouble with this case.

Danny rested his head on the window, lost in thoughts and Martin didn’t want to ask for more.

_Flashback_

**_Miami, October 1986_ **

_“What are we doing here?” – His friend asked, as he looked around the huge main hall of the house._

_The last time he had been there was six years ago; he had gone to trade baseball cards. Then he was surprised by the big hall and still the majesty of the place got his attention. He figured out all the things he’d have done there. However he had to be happy sharing his room with two other kids and a strict schedule he tried to skip every time he could. His foster parents and the social worker in charge of him were desperate but he didn’t care. He didn’t feel any affection for them, the same way they felt towards him, surely. When they received the visit from some  inspector from Social Services, things worked out perfectly for the time the visit was there. They were liars, the Government gave them a generous amount of money for every kid they took, but most of the money wasn’t spent on the kids._

_They had met months ago, their parents weren’t around to prevent them from being friends again, and even though they weren’t little kids anymore, they met  from time to time._

_“Do you want to smoke?”- The other one asked._

_“No…” – he said still looking around “Where are your parents?”_

_“My father ran away, after what happened with Lucy, and my mum is hysterical all day. She’s in a support group; she doesn’t spend time enough at home”._

_“What about Kyle? It’s been long time since I’ve seen him”_

_“There…” – Pete pointed the door towards the basement. “He spends all day down there… with Lucy’s dolls. Nobody had removed them, my mum believes it’s a sanctuary or something”_

_“Have you gone downstairs?”_

_“No, I don’t care to… well, have you brought something?”_

_“Sure, I got a couple of bottles in the liquor store from Fifth Street, the guy didn’t even notice. That old man doesn’t have any vigilance, I guess I’ll pass by there some more” – he said sitting down on one comfortable and, of course, big couch. In that house everything was big, everything was as big as he remembered._

_“Okay, let’s call Brian, we’ll have a good time!”- Pete exclaimed._

_End of flashback_

It was eight-thirty when they came back to the office. Danny walked directly towards Elena, who was at the phone. On the computer’s screen, a map of Brooklyn indicated the delivery firms in the zone. Danny shook his head and took the notebook where his coworker had been taking notes. It was a list of seven firms and three of them were already crossed out. When Elena hung up, she took the note book and crossed out another one. Danny looked at her with a questioning look.

“These are all the firms working in Brooklyn. None of them have reported a truck missing. I removed these four, since they use different vehicles and these ones because they don’t have any truck with the partial plate we’ve got… I’m going to check these three firms”

“Did you get a plate number?”- Danny asked in surprised.

“Partially; the man who called Barrett remembered it because it was the same as his”- she said. “He remembered a part of the number plate”.

“Right” – Jack said, approaching them. “Then, at this time it isn’t probable it was a kidnap for ransom. Nobody has called the parents or any other sibling. We’ve investigated them and we have nothing to think this is related to any personal or professional revenge”

“The police have traced the entire area around the school, we’ve checked the security cameras and the inside of the school”- Martin said.

“We have to focus on that truck. The earring you found belongs to Lorraine. Vivian showed it to the parents and they identified it”- Jack explained.

“If there isn’t any report from those firms, maybe we’re looking for an employee” – Danny suggested. “If we’re right, he would be working around the school, it would be easy to watch the kids, and taking one isn’t difficult knowing the area well”.

“I have to call three firms, I’ll get the name of the employee driving the truck, if that’s the case, we’ll start looking for him” – Elena said, picking up the phone.

Danny and Martin exchanged a relieved look. Finally they were on the right track. Danny looked at the photo of that little girl, hopeful.

The second call Elena did, they got what they were looking for.

“Applegate Agency has a grey truck with the number plate our witness said. They didn’t report a robbery, in fact, it’s been spotted in the agency parking lot” – she said.

**November, 25. Brooklyn. Applegate Agency. 10.00 pm.**

“I’m here by chance”- the Agency manager, Natalie Williams told them. “I was checking the orders for tomorrow when you called me. How I can help you?”

“Have you a grey truck with plate from New York,… 563 HD…”- Jack started.

“Yes, I told that to your coworker when she called me”- she said.

“We need to inspect that truck, Mrs. Williams” – Jack said.

“Well, at this time all our vehicles are in the parking lot” – she said – “well, except the big trailers on their way to the airport”

“What?”- Danny asked.

“Yes, look agent, we have work around the country, our planes fly at night, with the orders of that day, so we can start the delivery early the next morning”- she said with a smile, as she picked up the keys of the parking lot.

“Who loads the trailers?” – Jack asked then.

“Our employees, once they finish the local deliveries… at three p.m., more or less. Eh, well, this is the truck”- she said stopping in front of one of the trucks.

Martin approached to it and opened it. He looked inside but he didn’t find anything relevant. Meanwhile, Jack opened the trunk. A handcart and blankets for protecting the packages was all that he found. Danny checked the bottom of the truck noticing the muddy floor but it was common to all the trucks.

“Could you tell us who drove this truck and what was the route during this morning?”- Jack asked.

“Of course” – she said.

“You said the employees working for the morning, load the trailers when they finish the shift, about three in the afternoon…” – Martin said.

“Yes, that’s it”

Were they here at that time?” – he asked again.

“Yes… you can check it easily, we have arrivals report. They come here, loading the trailers and then rest for about two hours before leaving to the Airport”- she explained.

The agents headed for the offices, where the manager looked for something on her desk.

“As I told you, these are the arrival records... there are no absences, they were the usual employees and the three of them are going back to Miami. Eh… we work the packages in origin and destination, some of our employees are flying constantly”- she asked, looking for other papers. “Okay, here it is… this is the route of the trucks for today”.

_Flashback_

_Peter Callahan arrived at the offices of the firm he worked for about seven in the morning. He was still nervous, after the call from his brother and he didn’t know how to do what  had been asked of him._

_He went directly towards where his coworker chatted animatedly, drinking coffee, before starting their respective routes. From the whiteboard he picked up his route and the truck’s keys… it would be a quiet day. Five deliveries, the last one at a school in Brooklyn… Redstone school. Pete frowned, thinking about his brother. Maybe in that school was his chance…_

_“Hey Pete, are you okay?”- a coworker asked beside him._

_“What… eh… no… eh… why do you say that?” – Pete asked in surprised. Phil Yale looked at him with a smirk. Phil lived in New York and he was one of  Pete’s best friends. More than once he had had to stay in the city and Pete had accepted the hospitality of his friend sharing barbecue with his family… the carrot family, as Stella, Phil’s wife used to say. It was that Phil and his two daughters shared that peculiar red tone of hair._

_“I don’t know man… I see you so tense… didn’t you  sleep well?”- Phil asked._

_Pete sighed. “The hotel’s bed wasn’t so good” – he lied._

_“I told you that you could stay at my house…”_

_“I didn’t want to bother you, I guessed I would arrive later” – Pete explained._

_“How are Allison and the kids doing?” – Phil asked then._

_“They’re fine, they said to say hello to Uncle Phil”- Pete said smiling._

_Phil laughed. “Well, I’m leaving, I have a long route today and I want to get back home soon”._

_“All right” – Pete said._

_The short conversation with his friend had been useful to Pete to calm down a little, but still thinking about his wife and his sons, about what he had to do, brought to him waves of fear. Kyle… he always was in the wrong place. If he hadn’t gone downstairs to that basement, their lives would be so different now._

_ Miami, 1980, November 21. _

_The big house they lived in was full of people. The both kids, sitting down on a couch, looked at their parents talking to a policeman. Their mum cried and his father was very excited. Meanwhile, other policeman checked the entire house with little bags and a kind of white dust and brushes they were covering certain things of the house. Lucy’s room was the  focus of all their attention. Nobody could explain how the little four year old girl was missing. Her parents were looking for her from that early morning, since her mum had missed her after having breakfast, while her father drove the kids to the school. When after checking all the places where the girl used to play, the mum had left home desperately, thinking that the girl could have left the house, she called her husband, other neighbors and they started the useless search. Then, they called the police. Peter and Kyle had been picked up from school and came back home. Now, the policeman that had been talking to their parents, approached them._

_“Hey buddies, I’m Michael. You know why I’m here, do you?” – he said._

_“Have we done anything wrong?” – Kyle asked with scared eyes. Kyle was still a little boy and he didn’t understand so well what was happening._

_“No, little boy, we’re helping to find your sister, Lucy. Look, I have three brothers and when we were little, we used to play in a hiding place our parents didn’t know. We collected a lot of things there and played for hours. Do you have a hiding place like that?” – he asked._

_Kyle and Pete exchange a scared look and both looked down. The policeman waited impatiently and he knew by the gesture of the kids that they were hiding something. “Come on, I’m sure you both want your sister back soon. I won’t tell anyone, right?”_

_“We don’t have any hiding place” – Pete said. With eleven years old, he wondered what had happened to his sister but he didn’t understand why the policeman talked to them. “But sometimes we go to play with some friends… my parents don’t like them. Their parents either, the father of one of them is always angry and he’s very strange…”_

_“Could you explain that?”_

_“He smells bad”- Kyle said – “… and he’s always yelling and I’ve seen him beating my friend. Sometimes he looks like he’s ready to fall down. He scares me, but I like to play baseball cards and with my ball and we have a good time”_

_“Daddy says he’s a drunk”- Pete pointed._

_“Do you know where he lives? Is he your neighbor?”_

_“They live six blocks from here, at the back buildings” – Pete explained looking down again._

_The policeman raised an eyebrow. “Do your parents allow you to go there?”_

_Pete shook his head and ashamed, looked down again. He must have done something wrong, for sure._

_“I understand, do you know that place is dangerous, don’t you? There are a lot of bad people living there…”_

_“Not our friends”- Kyle said very convinced._

_“Have you brought any of your friends to your home?”_

_“No, never, if we want to play with something of ours, we take it there”_

_“For instance?”_

_“Last week, we took the remote car. We made the car run down the street and played at being policemen” – Pete said with brilliant eyes in emotion, but then he looked down again. “Lucy… she never came with us”._

_“Okay, thanks so much, you helped me a lot”- the policeman said, with an idea in his mind. Then he rose and approached the parents to talk to them again. Their mum glanced at them in pain, surprise and reproach, as his father wrote something on a piece of paper._

_The policeman left the house with another coworker. Pete observed the movements of the policeman and he guessed what they were going to do. He looked at his mum with his eyes full of tears. It was his fault, he didn’t obey them and now his little sister could be in danger because of him. His mum had told them a lot of times… ‘ don’t play with those kids, Pete, they don’t have what you have, it’s sad, I know, I know you want to share your toys with them, but you have to be careful, I don’t want them to pay too much attention to us, I don’t want you to tell them what we have or what we do’. Now, those absurd words, started to have some meaning for Pete Callahan… Could they have taken Lucy?_

_He turned to his brother Kyle but he found out he wasn’t beside him. He looked around but he didn’t see him. Pete curled up on the couch and hid his head in his knees. Some minutes later, he heard a terrific scream… Kyle’s screaming, coming from the basement of the house… the only place nobody had looked._

_End of flashback_


	4. Chapter 4

“Could you describe this Pete Callahan?” – Jack asked, reading the employee’s name.

“Yes, of course… eh… 6’3’’, dark hair… Very short… Wait, there’s a picture around…” – she said looking over her desk. She finally picked up a photo of a group of employees beside a Christmas tree. “This is him”.

Danny took the photo. Since he had heard the name, he realized that he had spent all day thinking about Callahan’s brothers, any way. He hadn’t changed so much, even though he wasn’t the same kid he knew years ago.

“Yes, he matches with the description”- he said referring the description Marcia Bradford had told them.

Danny handed the photo to Jack, who after looking at it for a moment, handed back to Ms. Williams.

“Where can we find Pete Callahan?” – Jack asked.

“Uhm… he should be on his way to the Airport, if he isn’t there yet. He’s driving one of the trailers and will come back home in the plane tonight”

“We have to stop that man. Martin, call for stopping the trailer on the road and taking the driver”- Jack said, dialing at the same time. “Elena, call the Airport, we have to stop the Applegate’s cargo plane from taking off. Ask that they be discrete, I don’want our suspect to run away. We don’t know where the girl is yet”.

Ms. Williams started to protest but Jack didn’t give any option. “A four-year -old girl is missing and your employee is right now our main suspect. I’m not going to put this case at risk because your packages get a little delayed.”

The three agents quickly left Appelgate’s offices, as Sam did the same from Barrett’s home, once Elena called her. Just Elena stayed in the office, ready to explode. She preferred being in the field, doing something… waiting wasn’t her best quality.

Meanwhile, Vivian stayed with Lorraine’s parents at their home.

“Do you think he’s going to take the girl into the plane?”- Danny asked, as he droved through New York streets.

“I don’t know”- Jack said. “It looks pretty risky, but it’s sure this man has something to do with this case. Being on the road or in the Airport, I don’t want him to escape. If he doesn’t confess, we’ll have to check all the trailers or planes if they’ve gotten into the warehouses already. We’ll have work for a while”.

“Well, if we find the girl…” – Danny said.

===============================================================

Pete Callahan was driving the trailer to the Airport quietly. The most difficult part was done. Once he had gotten his nerves under control, he allowed himself to drink a coffee with his coworkers and chat animatedly after loading the packages into the trailer, forgetting what had kept him tense for the whole day. He switched on the radio, looking for a little company for the way to the airport. Meanwhile the news talked about the disappearance of a girl, Pete remembered that day long time ago, that day when his family’s life changed for ever. The description of that girl matched, of course, dark, long hair, four years old… her name was Lorraine.

Pete couldn’t put a date to when he started to be in trouble, maybe it was the friendships, it looks he always mad bad choices, or not. The truth is that he always felt more comfortable with those kids that his parents thought were without no future.

_Flashback_

_ Miami, summer of 1986 _

_They had agreed to meet at a park where they used to go after school. Brian went with his cousin, Mike. He waved his hand as they approached them._

_“Hey, what’s up?” – Brian said._

_Pete and Brian shook hands. “He’s my cousin, Mike, he’ll come with us. Eh…” – Brian approached him to whisper. “I don’t think t’is a good idea for  your brother to come with us”._

_Pete frowned. “What do you mean?”_

_“Listen, maybe things turn bad, maybe we have to run…”_

_“And?” – Pete asked in a threatening tone. He knew what Brian meant, but for him, Kyle was his brother and he’d never recognize that outside of the walls of his home, he had any problem._

_“Nothing, I only say that maybe he should  go back home”._

_“No, Kyle stays”- Pete said._

_“Okay…like you want” – Brian said._

_“Are you coming?” – Mike asked._

_“Sure, come on”_

_It was easy, they only had to enter the shop and while one of them distracted the employee with the groceries, the other picked up the cigarettes and if there was a chance, a bottle. Then, they’d go somewhere to enjoy their success. His mum didn’t care about him anymore and Brian and Mike parents didn’t care about them. Pete would try to get the bottles as Brian would pick up the cigarettes, while Kyle and Mike distracted the employee._

_When they entered the shop, the employee glanced trustful at them. He was used to kids stealing at any given moment in the shop. He had put in security cameras, but they didn’t care. They were underage, so they were arrested and soon they were again out._

_Pete looked distractedly for something to buy, he picked up some chocolates and went to the back of the shop where he knew it was the liquor bottles. He didn’t know which was better, but it didn’t matter, any thing would work for their purposes. He was going to take one when he felt someone beside him. The other kid put a finger on his lips. “Hey” – he whispered – “What are you doing here?” – he asked in surprised._

_“What do you think?” – Pete whispered, looking back at his friends._

_“I thought your family was rich…” – the other said with a smirk._

_“Go to hell” – Pete replied, upset. Actually he was a little bit scared of that kid after what he had done to his father._

_“Okay, I’m leaving” – the other stepped back. Pete watched as he passed by the counter and put some money on the counter for chocolates. Just in the door, the employee called him. “Eh, kid!” – he said approaching him. But the other, glanced at him before run away. The man followed him, and a couple of policemen too… they didn’t catch him. Danny Alvarez ran like wind._

_End of flashback_

That time, things went well. The man of the shop forgot them and they took everything they could carry. Years later, things weren’t so easy, but the five years he spent in prison, were nothing if you think what it could be like if his brother opened his mouth. This would be the last time… “The last time, Kyle”- he said aloud, making firm his purpose. At that moment his cell started to sound. As he had read his mind, the ID of the cell, told him who was calling… Kyle.

“What do you want?”- he asked coldly.

“You know what I want, Pete… it’s late… I have to prepare the dinner and I don’t want a plate without food”.

“I’m on my way to the Airport. I’ll arrive around midnight. Is it possible you don’t let the soup get cold?” – Pete asked sarcastically.

The silence was the only response.

“Kyle?”- Pete asked. “Kyle, are you there?”

“I don’t like when you speak like that, Pete. You know very well what I can do”.

“Well, Kyle, let’s see if you’re capable because this is the last time I help you. The next one, you’ll have to do it by yourself”.

“No…no… you won’t dare… Pet… Pete” – Kyle started to stammer. “I’ll tell Brian the truth… I swear you, Pete”.

Pete remained silent for a moment. His brother was nervous, anxious… this was a new behavior. Other times he was threatening and Pete never had any doubts, he’d do it, but this time was different. Then, he saw an exit. “If you tell Brian, Kyle… I won’t be able to help you ever… what are you going to do then?”

Pete waited for the explosion but his brother didn’t say a word, which surprised him. He stopped the trailer on the side of the road noticing the neon sign of a gas station. “Kyle?”

Pete heard a noise through the cell. “Kyle, what are you doing?”

“I have to take care of Lucy”- Kyle said sobbing. “I have to take care of her, you have to bring her to me, Pete”

Pete closed his eyes, his brother’s desperation wasn’t new, but he never had showed it like that being so close to getting what he wanted. Right now Pete thought seriously that maybe it was time to stop, maybe this last errand wouldn’t be necessary.

“Kyle, listen to me, I can help you…”

“How are you going to help me!, You left me alone!, You left with your friends!, Dad told you not to but you had to go with them and look what it happened!”

“Kyle, things have changed, I have changed… listen,… I have a job, a good job, I’ll take care of you. I promise I’ll take care of you, but please, you have to stop this, it’s nonsense…”

“Are you saying I’m crazy? Are you going to lock me up?”

“No Kyle”- Pete said, even though it would be the best for his brother. “I’ve said I’m going to take care of you and yes, I’ll do it…. Kyle, are you listening to me?” – he continued not getting any reply from his brother.

“I’m going to make the dinner”- Kyle said with quiet voice, after a moment. “I’ll wait for you, don’t care about the time”.

“Okay, all right, I’ll stop by there, but I’ll arrive late, remember that”- Pete said.

===============================================================

At 10:00 pm, Pete Callahan spotted the trailer at the gas station. He entered the café and asked for a beer. Once again the news talked about the disappearance of that girl so well alike to his little sister. Since he had talked to Kyle, he had thought about the chance of leaving. Kyle was his responsibility, he was since his father had left and his mum didn’t care about them anymore, surely to forget the tragedy. But Kyle… since then, since that fateful day, he changed his natural behavior, becoming very introverted, spending hours in that basement, and Pete never wanted to know what he was doing there… but Kyle had found out Lucy’s body… his sister’s body between her dolls. She had died playing with dolls as she played in that basement, nobody else went down.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Kyle Callahan had come back to the basement after calling his brother. He didn’t understand what happened to Pete, he didn’t understand why it was so difficult to bring Lucy home… she was always a good girl. He came back to the counter and started to put the plates in order… he’d prepare the dinner… he’d prepare the soup for the four of them… Pete would bring Lucy… he’d do it…

““Brunette girl, four years old, missing. I’ll take care of you, I’ll take care of you all. One plate, two plates, three plates, four plates… I’ll take care of you all… brunette girl, four years old, missing… Lucy… I’ll take care of you, one girl, two dolls, three dolls… four… I missed one, I missed one… brunette girl, four years old, missing… I missed one… I missed one…”

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

In the silence of the cabin in the trailer, Pete tried to calm down, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath before starting the engine. It was done. His only worry right now was arriving on time at the Airport, get the packages into the plane and go back home. He didn’t care what Kyle could tell Brian. It had been a long time and lot of things and Pete doubted that Brian would believe anything Kyle could tell him. He pulled out a little picture from his pocket and put in front of him. The little girl of smiling brown eyes looked at him… Lucy. It was raining again, he started the windshield wipers and started driving to the road on his way to the Airport.

**November, 25. La Guardia Airport. New York, 11.30pm.**

FBI cars arrived at the cargo zone of the Airport. The Applegate’s plane was opened as were the three trailers of the firm around it. As Jack had ordered, the police and they themselves had driven carefully without making use of sirens. When the employees, busy with their work, realized it, it was too late for running away.

Jack got out the car and showing his FBI ID, he walked towards one of the man. “Who’s Pete Callahan?”

The man pointed at a coworker driving a fork-lift truck from the trailer to the plane.

Pete looked at the agents approaching him and he panicked. He didn’t have any way to escape, his life was finished here, whatever he did. He thought about running away, but for what? He couldn’t see Allison or his little kids anymore. However, he could still try something… he had done it before and it worked out then.

“Pete Callahan?”- Jack asked.

“Yes, I am”- he said getting out the vehicle. “What’s going on?”- Pete continued noticing as the young blond agent reached her gun.

“Which one is your trailer?”- Sam asked.

Pete pointed at his right. “What happened? We’re loading the packages…”

“What’s going on Pete?”- one of his coworkers asked.

“I don’t… I don’t know” – Pete said.

Jack pulled out the photo of Lorraine and put in front of him. “Where is she?”

“What?”- Pete asked. “I don’t… I don’t know who she is… what’s going on?”

**November, 26. FBI offices, New York. 3.15 am.**

“Listen, don’t waste my time”- Jack said in a threatening tone. “We know that this girl has been in the vehicle you used this morning for doing the deliveries, we know that you were at the school where the girl disappeared. So stop lying and tell me where she is if you don’t want things turning worse for you”.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I told you I don’t know anything”

“A witness saw the girl getting into your car; we’ve found traces of her presence there. We know you had the opportunity and you did it. What did you want to do with her? Did you want to abuse her and something went wrong? Or nothing went wrong and you hid her someplace? Where is Lorraine Barrett?”

“I don’t know, I swear I don’t know what you’re talking about. I just did my work, you can check it, and there is my list of work signed by the clients with the time…”

“It’s not an alibi. You had time enough to kidnap the girl and stay with her for a while…”

“But, what are you saying? Listen, I’m married, I have two kids and a job, why the hell I was going to do that? I told you I just did my work, then I came back to the offices, I drank a coffee with friends and loaded the trailer. Then I left for the Airport…. I stopped on my way to eat something. Then you arrived… I don’t know anything about this. You’re … you’re wrong”

Jack looked at the time, he had spent two hours in that interview room and that man hadn’t confessed. He didn’t even ask for a lawyer, convinced of his innocence. Outside, Vivian and Danny attentively watched the conversation. Danny looked at the time with desperation. He had just arrived from the Airport with Martin and Sam. They three joined the police in the search for any trace of Lorraine in the trailers and the plane. They had opened all the packages but they didn’t find anything. Vivian had left the Barrett home, leaving Elena with them. They didn’t expect any ransom call but they didn’t want to let them alone. They would be told any information about their daughter through an agent, personally and not from a call from the FBI offices.

“That guy isn’t going to tell us anything and the clock is running”- Danny said.

“If he kidnapped and abused her it’s possible he killed her, Danny”- Vivian said. She didn’t like to admit it but it was the most credible explanation. However, her coworker still had hope and noticing how he had worked this case, it would be better if he was assuming that possibly they wouldn’t find the girl alive.

“She’s…. she’s very little, and if that was the case, we’d have found some evidence. Those kind of guys don’t do this by coincidence, they  have a large criminal record” – Danny said.

“You’re right about that”- she said frowning. “The only record is a robbery in a liquor store years ago, he spent five years in prison”.

“He was going to take her to Florida”- Danny said.

“For what?” – she asked.

Danny looked at her as if he were trying to tell her something, but he didn’t. She saw his desperate look. “Danny, we didn’t find her. Either this Callahan speaks or we won’t have anything”- she said squeezing his arm affectionately.

At that moment, Jack left the interview room.

“Jack, we have checked everything and there is no trace of the girl. He had to leave her with someone else or someplace”- Danny said.

Jack looked at him for a moment and then Vivian. She read in his eyes what she was thinking. They were looking for a body.

“Jack, please, let me talk to him”- Danny said, suddenly. It had to be that, suddenly the puzzle fixed in his mind and Danny was sure of what it had to be. He just had to know where the girl was. Pete wasn’t like that, at least he wasn’t like he remembered him, there wasn’t any criminal record with those kinds of offenses, he was married, with kids and had a safe job. There wasn’t any reason for it except what he had been thinking the whole day. And if it was like that, there was still hope to find Lorraine Barrett alive. Pete wouldn’t kill her, he couldn’t do it.

Jack didn’t reply, still thinking. What they were wrong about? They had found his fingerprints in the car, the girl had been there. His last delivery was at the school. Nobody else had taken that car. But the truth was that there wasn’t any trace of the girl in the trailer or the plane and Pete Callahan assured over and over that he didn’t have anything to do with that matter.

“All right”- he said finally. They hadn’t anything to lose. “Pressure him but don’t be too rude. We’re going to check all the case, maybe we missed something”.

“I don’t think so, Jack”- Danny said with conviction.


	5. Chapter 5

Taking the picture of Lorraine Barrett, Danny opened the door of the interview room. With his head buried in his arms, Pete Callahan didn’t see him entering.

Danny got into the room and sat down in front of Pete Callahan. He put Lorraine Barrett’s picture before Pete’s eyes. He knew that Jack and Vivian were outside looking at them, he knew what was going to happen… one of those things he wanted to keep away from his life, but Lorraine Barrett was more important that him at this moment.

“You know what, Pete? I’ve been thought about you both the whole day. But, if I’m sincere with myself, I expected to see Kyle, not you” – Danny said in a quiet tone.

Jack and Vivian exchanged a surprised look. “Do they know each other?” – Jack asked as Vivian asked “Who’s Kyle?”

Pete Callahan lifted his head. In his face was reflected the tiredness, the tension of hours, the taken decisions, the desperation, the anguish of someone who knows that he has lost everything. He had recognized the voice of his old friend, but now he was in front of him, it was difficult to confront the reality of the situation.

“What an irony, isn’t it?” he said. “It was supposed to be you  at this side of the table, don’t you think?”

“You know, one makes his decisions and his chances, Pete”

“I’d had everything, Danny…. Money, a family I was proud, a place to live…” – Pete paused before continuing. “I have a wife and kids, Danny. I love them, they are the best I’ve got in this life. I’ve got a good job, I can’t complain. I spent five years in prison, I served my sentence”.

“Then, why did you do this, Pete? Do it easy, tell me where Lorraine is and let`s finish this” – Danny asked holding the picture before his very eyes.

Pete stared at Danny. He wasn’t that kid he shared baseball cards long time ago with, he wasn’t that kid stealing liquors and getting drunk, that shared his spare time with him and Brian Cruz.

Danny tried to stay calm, he knew it would take time to get it, but he was sure about what he was doing. Pete looked at the picture. “She looks very similar, doesn’t she?”- he muttered.

They had got a confirmation. Jack frowned. “Come on, come on,… tell us where she is…” – he muttered. Vivian, stood beside him, noticed the tension in Jack, the same she felt, the same tension all of them felt. At that time in the night everyone was still there. Martin and Sam were checking all the information about Pete Callahan they could find, trying to find a lead, some place where he could hidden the girl in New York. Meanwhile, Danny went on with that conversation he had just started.

“Yes Pete, she looks like her,... but she isn’t her, she isn’t Lucy. Her name is Lorraine, she is four years old, and surely she wants to come back home with her parents” – Danny said. “Where’s Lorraine, Pete?”

Pete looked at Danny with desperation. “It’s clear I chose the wrong friends” – he said smiling sadly. “It’s clear I had to stay with you instead of Brian”. Danny didn’t know what to say, he looked at the mirror out of the corner of his eyes, where he knew Jack was waiting, as anxious as he was.

“I was wrong,  I thought I had left everything, for a while I could live with the satisfaction of restarting my life, I had a good job, I had a family…” – Pete seemed to talk for himself – “…but Kyle…”

“Where’s Lorraine, Pete?” – Danny asked once again.

“I couldn’t do it. When I left her I felt… I felt that relief of  doing things right. I don’t know if Kyle will carry out his threat or not but… I don’t care…”

“Are you doing this because of Kyle?”

Pete nodded.- “For him. You know what happened with Kyle after Lucy’s death. With the run of the years, he became worse, every time more obsessed. When I got out of prison and came back home, he threw me out. I could see how bad he was. I tried to help him, I took him to doctors that prescribed medicines I got for him and took control of it… I’ve done that until now, God knows that I’ve tried it”.

“Well, Pete… you… you didn’t want to do it, you were threatened by Kyle. You told me that you couldn’t do it. Don’t make this worse, all right? Where’s Lorraine? What did you do with her?”

Pete looked at Danny, his eyes reddened by tears and tiredness. He was ready to speak, Danny believed that, Vivian and Jack too, from the other side of the mirror, ready to go in the search of Lorraine Barrett.

“I had agreed to meet Brian, we were going to get into that liquor store you had told us, do you remember? The old Tom García’s store”

Danny nodded.

“Brian went with his cousin, Mike. They had guns, I… I didn’t thought about it, ever. Suddenly, Kyle approached us and he wanted to go with us. I didn’t want him too, Kyle was unsteady then, but Brian thought that he could the old man’s attention, like other times, so we went there”.

Danny listened to Pete as he was consumed in anxiety. It was really late and they didn’t know anything about Lorraine yet. They didn’t even know if she was alive or not. He tried to block all the memories Pete brought to him, memories that had assaulted him for the whole day, memories from a buried life.

“He didn’t have to be there, the guns either. Kyle stayed looking at the comics and took some chocolates. García stared at him. Mike took a bottle, I did the same… and Brian… everything went well. Brian left the store with a couple of bottles, as Mike approached the counter with some chocolates… to pretend… but then, he lost one of the bottles”.

“Okay, I understand Pete, but that’s not important right now. Tell me where Lorraine is and then you can tell me the whole story”.

“No, you don’t understand, this is the story!”- Pete exclaimed in desperation. “Old Tom held a rifle he hid under the counter and I… I panicked. I yelled and pointed my gun and… pulled the trigger. The old man could shoot, hurting Mike but I killed the man. I took Kyle and left quickly”

“What does Lorraine Barrett have to do with all of this, Pete?”

“Some people saw Kyle and me leaving the store. I was sentenced for robbery to serve five years in prison. Mike… Mike died in prison years later, he was sentenced for García’s murder”.

“And Kyle knew that it wasn’t true”- Danny started to understand why Pete and not Kyle was sitting down in front of him.

“Yes, for years we didn’t speak about it but… but one day, Kyle came to ask for help… he was worse every time I saw him, he threatened to tell Brian the truth and I couldn’t allow him to ruin my life, so I agreed…”

“Okay, Pete, it’s late and it’s cold outside. I need to know what you did to Lorraine”

“You know what, Danny? I always was good telling lies, blaming others for things I’d done, informing against anyone that had done nothing… I was the one informing against your father, I told the police that I was playing with you and they went for him. That day I realized why my parents didn’t want me to play with you… I guess your father was lucky for finding Lucy that day. Then, when Brian told me that your father got angry and he didn’t see you, your mum or your brother for days… I got scared. I knew what he was able to do and I feared for you all…”

Outside, Jack looked in worry at his agent. This case had affected him for several reasons, he knew that now, Danny didn’t have to stay there, he didn’t know if the agent could deal with the pressure… and still Pete Callahan didn’t tell them anything about Lorraine.

Danny felt the lump in his throat as he remembered the four days his father locked them up without anything to eat or drink.

_Flashback_

_“Then, Gargantúa threw on him”- Rafie stopped the reading of the comic, at the sound of two knocks on the door._

_“Why are you stopping?”- Danny protested._

_“I don’t know who is knocking at the door… Did something happen at school?”, - he asked as he poked his head._

_“No… who is it?”_

_“It’s a policeman, he’s talking to dad” – Rafie said._

_“What is he saying?” – Danny asked._

_“I don’t know, wait… they left home”- Rafie said, opening the door. “What’s going on, mami?” – he asked._

_“I don’t know, something about that family, Callahan” – she said._

_Danny turned pale. His parents didn’t like it when he played with those kids._

_Soon his father came into the house slamming the door. His face was red with rage. Rafie closed their bedroom’s door and leant against it. Danny looked at him terrified as they listened to the yelling._

_“What’s that I match with the profile? What profile?... I told you, don’t allow the kid to play with that people… I knew well what kind of problems we would have. I match with the profile… but, what this kid told them? Daniel!”_

_“Let him alone, Mario, the kid didn’t do anything”- his wife said._

_“That’s it, you defend him. I’ve told you and the boys that I don’t want you to meet those people!”_

_Mario Alvarez remained silent for a while._

_His wife looked on as he clenched his fists as his face became red. His sick mind because of the alcohol, was looking for something or someone to free his rage. She waited, she didn’t want him to hit any of the boys, it was always like that._

_Inside the room, Rafie and Danny heard the sharp slap, the open hand on his mum’s face. They knew pretty well the sound, they knew well the effects of it. She didn’t yell, she just covered her face with her hands, as her husband pushed her to their bedroom and locked the door . Then, he headed for the boys’ bedroom._

_Danny hid under the bed, as Rafie tried to keep the door closed, but his father was stronger and opened it with a kick._

_“Where’s your brother?”- he asked._

_“I don’t know, papi… he’s not here” – Rafie replied._

_“Don’t lie to me, kid… I know he’s at home. It’s raining hard enough to stay inside… where’s he, uhm?” – he said, looking around._

_Rafie remained silent, as his father fixed his sight on the bed. He turned at his son. “I told you don’t lie to me… what happened to this fami!y. Is that nobody respects me?” – he yelled. His words were followed by a punch to Rafie’s face, that made his face hit against the door. Rafie staggered and fell down dazed by the hit. He stayed sitting down on the floor hiding his head in his hands trying to protect himself._

_But his father didn’t hit him again. Lifting the bedspread, he stretched his arm under the bed grabbing the little boy’s arm, he had hidden the farthest away he could, but it wasn’t enough. As his father pulled him out, Danny dragged something with him that caught his father’s attention._

_“What’s this?”- he asked, picking up the remote controlled car._

_“It’s… it’s not mine” – the scared little boy replied._

_“Sure it’s not yours…who owns it? That Callahan friend of you isn’t it?, answer me!”_

_“I… I don’t know… I found it”_

_“I see, you found it… I’ve told you that I don’t want you to stay with that people, look what happened! Now, the whole neighborhood is going to point at me with their fingers… I don’t want to see the police in my home… I don’t want you to go with that people again, is that clear enough?”_

_“I don’t…” – the little boy started._

_“Are youe going to lie to me, as well?” – the man squeezed his arm so hard that tears escaped Danny’s eyes._

_“You’re hurting me!” – he screamed._

_He let go of his arm so violently that the little boy dropped to the floor. He watched as his father pushed his brother away from the door and left, locked them inside the room. The time he’d open the door again was something Danny couldn’t tell... the last time two days had gone bt”._

_End of flashback._

“That was just gossip, Pete. The police just went to ask… It wasn’t strange to anybody. It wasn’t the first time it happened” – Danny lied.

“I spent five years in prison, then… then I restarted my life, but Kyle didn’t leave me. Four years ago, he asked me for a favor, it looked easy, I just had to take one of that abandoned girls… a little girl looking like Lucy”

Danny looked at him terrified.

“Oh, my god” – Vivian muttered from the other side of the mirror.

“I didn’t want to lose Allison and the kids” – Pete continued sobbing. “I took the girl to the main door of the house and I didn’t want to know anything else. I didn’t even think he would call me again”.

“How… how many times Kyle has called you, Pete?” – Danny asked carefully.

“Four … four damn times… and I swear you this was the last time. I didn’t care anymore, I was going to finish this crap. Kyle is a crazy man… I’m sure Brian won’t believe any word from him. I was planning to run away with Allison and the kids and end this nightmare” – Pete said.

“That’s good, Pete. It’s okay, it says a lot of you, about what you wanted to do… why don’t you help me to find little Lorraine?”

“Good” – Jack said, from the outside.

Pete remained silent for a while, a time that Danny felt was an eternity.

“About twenty miles from the Airport, beside the road, there is a gas station. I stopped there, after Kyle called me again tonight. He was so… I noticed him so bad that then I decided to stop his play. I took the girl, wrapping her in a blanket of protection for the packages and left her at the side of the station. She was asleep when I left… I had given her some sleeping pills, she has been sleeping the whole day. I swear I didn’t hurt her”.

Vivian stayed alone outside of the interview room. Jack called Sam and both left the FBI building towards that gas station. Martin, after calling an ambulance and telling them the address, went towards the interview room, where Danny continued his conversation with Pete Callahan.

“What… What did Kyle do with the girls?”

“I don’t know, I don’t have any clue… well, I guess he tried to picture what he saw when Lucy was found. The dolls still stayed at home and he always told me that he was preparing the dinner, or lunch, or whatever it was… like Lucy was doing when she was found.”

“Is Kyle still living at that house?” – Danny asked.

“Yes, he should be there, waiting for me… with his Lucy”- Pete said, now calmer.

“Great” – Danny said standing up. “You did okay, Pete”. He barely smiled as he left.

Pete looked at Danny leaving the room and suddenly he realized that he had been talking to him as the old friends they were. But it wasn’t true, his old friend was now an FBI agent looking for information. He didn’t even smile as he left. It wasn’t his fault, he hated himself and he didn’t deserve any compassion. Now he knew that it had been just a confession, he had confessed the kidnap of Lorraine, the kidnap of other girls and he was an accomplice, probably of three murders. He took out of his pocket the photograph of Allison and the kids, the one he always took when he was  traveling and put it near his face as he cried inconsolably.

Danny left the interview room, his heart beating quickly as he tried to keep the memories from coming to his mind. Vivian and Martin were waiting for him, outside.

“I have… I have to call the police… in… in Miami”- he said, barely looking at them. “They have to search that house and arrest Kyle Callahan right now. Where’s Jack?”

“He’d gone to the gas station with Sam… to get Lorraine” – Vivian said. “Danny, you did okay. You got Callahan to us he had taken that girl and gave us the location where she was”.

“Yes” – Danny sighed. He was tired and didn’t feel happy at all. All the tension he had kept at bay during the interview, started to come out. He knew that he couldn’t keep control for long time. “I… uhm…” – he started not knowing how to go on.

Martin saw that his coworker was seconds away from a breakdown and wanted to help him. “Tell me that address and I’ll call the Miami police. You better go back home, it has been a hard day”.

“No… it’s okay. I’m fine. I’ll do that call, then… then I’ll leave” – Danny said. He turned back and went to the bullpen, to his desk.

Martin and Vivian looked at him in worry. “Everything possible happened in that room” – Vivian said.

“Danny has acted very strange the whole day” – Martin commented.

“Surely, that girl brought old memories to him, but probably it wasn’t until we caught Callahan that he realized it” – Vivian said.

“Did they know each other?” – Martin asked.

“It looks like it” – Vivian said. “But, look at this picture” – she said, handing him an old picture they had found in the trailer and Jack had given to her.

Martin looked at the picture… it was Lorraine Barrett, but… he looked at Vivian questioning.

“It’s Lucy Callahan, Pete Callahan’s sister” – Vivian explained.

===========================================================================

**November, 26. FBI Offices, New York. 06.00 pm**

When Martin arrived at the office that evening to finish the report of the case they had been working the day before and part of the night, he wasn’t surprised to see Danny already there. They had left the office that early morning, after spending a night of work, after having interviewed Pete Callahan, waiting for Jack’s call, who had left with Sam in search of little Lorraine.

_Flashback_

_An agent came into the interview room and asked Pete Callahan to stand up. He handcuffed him and just left. ‘So this is the end’ – Pete thought, trying to keep back the tears in his eyes. If he thought right, all his life had been signaled by that day when his sister, playing in the home’s basement, had choked with the little piece of a toy. He wondered, as so many times before, what had happened if Kyle wouldn’t have found  her, what would have happened if the police had found the girl before Kyle… it would have been painful for a while but just that. He felt for Kyle and for all the girls that probably died in that basement of cold or hunger… he didn’t believe that Kyle hurt them. He only wanted to see his sister again, as if he were trying to stop an invisible clock in his happiest days. They couldn’t blame him for wanting that!_

_He looked through the corridor, looking for Danny but he had disappeared. However, he saw other two agents standing up beside the mirror of the interview room. He looked at the agent with a picture in her hands… Lucy’s photograph. He stopped for a while, as the agent kept him walking.. “Please” – he asked, stopping in front of Vivian and holding out his handcuffed hands._

_Vivian let him have the photographs that Pete took with trembling hands and kept in his pocket after looking at her for a second. Then, like someone resigned to his future, went on his way._

_“Well” – Martin said – “I don’t know what to think about this man, he looks so desperate…”_

_“Yes, he probably does Martin, but he kidnapped four girls to fuel his brother’s craziness, four innocent  girls we don’t know anything about… yet” – Vivian said._

_“Yes” – he said frowning. “Still he doesn’t look a murderer”_

_“Let’s go to the bullpen, surely Danny has called the Miami police to search Kyle Callahan’s home” – she said._

_Both agents went back to the bullpen and could see Danny standing up, talking frantically into the phone. In his face reflected the anxiety, the anguish of the wait. Martin approached him and patted his back, as he paid attention to the conversation._

_Vivian looked at the time, it was close to dawn and the tiredness started to affect her, now that everything was almost gone._

_Danny hung up the phone and sat down on his desk. He leant his elbows on it and hid his head in his arms as his hands messed up his hair in desperation._

_“What did they say?” – Martin asked, approaching him and leaning on the desk._

_“They should be on their way to the house…. I don’t know… I don’t know what they’ll find there, but… judging what Pete Callahan told me, I don’t expect anything good. That guy… Kyle… he spent years playing in that basement, after his sister died… nobody worried about him, about what he was doing” – Danny said lifting his head._

_“Well, I guess they thought he was a little disturbed, I read the report about that case… Kyle found his sister dead in that basement… for a little boy it had to be a shock”_

_“It changed the life of that family… of all of them” – Danny said._

_“Did you know them?” – Martin asked._

_“A little. It’s curious, his parents didn’t like it that they played with me… the bad boys from Seventh st. Mine either… for other reasons, my mum looked as I longed for the  Callahan toys. I remember a remote control car Kyle gave me, it was… it was great, I had never seen those cars and he let  me have it for an entire day… figure out what that meant for a seven year old kid. Pete… Pete enjoyed my surprised face when I saw his things, when I went to his big house. They were the happy family, they had everything…”_

_“Well, you know… sometimes life takes unexpected ways” – Martin said, looking at the time. “Jack should call soon”_

_“If I… If I had taken notice of my instinct from the beginning…” – Danny started._

_“What?”_

_“I don’t know, since I saw the photo of that girl, Lorraine… I’ve been thinking of Callahan. If I had typed Pete or Kyle name, I’d had known that Pete was in New York.. we could have taken that lead before and that girl would be at home, safe”_

_“Jack will find her, Danny, and he will, thanks to you, you got that Pete trust you, you got his confession”._

_“But maybe it’s too late” – Danny said looking at the picture still on the whiteboard._

_“Hey, listen, we’re tired, we’ve spent too much time at work, without getting any rest. We don’t know anything yet, that Pete Callahan didn’t try to hurt her…”_

_“Sure he didn’t, she was exactly like his sister, and he was taking her to his brother, Kyle… to fuel his craziness, as a specimen shot in a hunt” – Danny said bitterly._

_“Danny, I guess you should…”_

_“There’s no way I’m leaving this office without knowing what happened to that girl, Martin” – Danny cut off him knowing what he was trying to say._

_At that moment, Vivian’s cell started to ring. The three of them exchanged a worried look. “It’s Jack” – she said._

_“Jack?... Uhm… okay, great, oh, yes sure, thanks. And thanks for calling” – Vivian cut the call but before she could say anything, Martin and Danny already knew what had happened… at least the most important part._

_“They found her, as Callahan said, wrapped in a blanket and sleeping peacefully, leant on some bags at the side of the gas station. An ambulance has taken her to the hospital to check her but the girl is okay. The parents are going to the hospital”- Vivian told them._

_“Good, right… it’s the best news, isn’t it, Danny?”_

_“Sure”- he said._

_“Jack said that we’re to go  home to rest, it has been a long day” – Vivian said._

_“Oh, well, it’s dawning, why don’t we go  have breakfast before going back home?”- Martin suggested._

_“Sure”- Vivian said. “Do you want to come with us?” – she asked his coworker._

_“No, better you go, the Miami police are going to call me…” – Danny said._

_“Hey, they’ll take time to do a search. Come on, have a breakfast with us and then, if you want, come back, right?”_

_“No… I’m not hungry… go you. I’ll wait for that call and then I’ll go home” – Danny said._

_“Okay”._

_Vivian and Martin left the office not very convinced about his coworker intentions. In their thoughts was the fact that they wanted Danny to be out of the office and give him a little bit of distraction. The case had finished okay and it wasn’t a good idea that Danny kept with that investigation when he was so close to it._

_End of flashback_

Danny, you didn’t leave, did you?” – Martin asked, greeting him. The bags under his eyes, the same clothes he had worn the whole day… the tired expression… Danny had stayed there.

“I was typing my report”- Danny replied.

“Jack said we should go back home, we spent the night without get any rest. You have to leave” – Martin said.

“Eleven” – Danny stared at him.

“Eleven?” – Martin asked not understanding.

“Eleven bodies. They found eleven little bodies buried in Kyle Callahan’s garden”

“Oh, that’s…. that’s terrible. What did he say?”

“They found him in the basement, there was a little table with three dolls sitting down around it. A tablecloth and plates for four people… he was waiting for Lucy, he was waiting for Pete… but the police went instead”.

Martin didn’t know what to say.

“I remember that I was in that house years after the tragedy happened; I asked Pete about Kyle… he was in the basement. ‘I never go down, I don’t know what he’s doing there’, he told me. He couldn’t have been more than 14 or 15 years sold, I guess,… none of us took care of him… he was my friend and I didn’t care for him. If I had paid attention, if I had gone down to that basement rather than laugh at him and have fun with Pete… those deaths could have been avoided”.

“Oh, come on, Danny. You were only kids…”

“Yes, only kids,… that excuse had worked so well for me” – Danny muttered. “I’m… I’m tired… you’re right…I should go home” – he continued as he rose and picked up his jacket.

“Do you want me to go with you?” – Martin asked.

“No, thanks,… I’m fine… I’ll be fine… it’s just that… I need to take a breath” – Danny said slightly smiling.

Martin stayed in the office, worried for his  coworker. He’d have gone with him, but Danny needed to be alone with his memories. He didn’t have to be a visionary to realize that. He just hoped he wouldn’t get into any trouble.

Danny tightened his coat and scarf and put his hand in the pockets. It was dark, again, and the night was becoming another day, cold and unpleasant. Danny appreciated the low temperatures… in Miami it was never so cold.

_Danny whistled to tell Kyle he could leave the hiding place. His father had appeared at the bottom of the street, staggering and had got into the house. From they were playing, they could see all the street and noticed when someone was approaching._

_Kyle ran away the van with the car in his hands. Both friends sat down on the ground and looked with enthusiasm at the toy. “Do you like it?” – Kyle asked. “If you want, I can let you play with it for a while”._

_“Really? It would be great… how does it work?” – Danny asked._

_“Look, you push this button to start and then, with this thing, you drive it… like this” – Kyle left the car on the ground and started it. Then he made the car going down the street, take a turn and come back to them, quickly and doing a 180 degree on it’s way”._

_Danny had never seen anything like that before and he stared at the car stunned. “I’ll leave you but don’t tell Pete, if he knows, he’ll kill me, the car is his”._

_“And he let you take it?”_

_“Sure… I’ve told him that if he doesn’t, I’ll tell daddy where he’s going to play after school” – The other one said with a smirk._

_Danny took the car, thinking about a place to hide it from his father. After saying goodbye, Danny entered the house on his tiptoes. His father was deeply asleep on the couch; he walked to his bedroom and hid the car under his bed… a little treasure”_

“Kyle Callahan… you always had caught your brother” – Danny said aloud, leant on the railing and looking at the sea… a sea that any point… far at south, met with Miami beaches.


End file.
